Give APP the ability to speak and let the product spread itself!

Realize user self-propagation? Why should users take the initiative to help you spread the word?

If you want to achieve the self-propagation effect and realize rapid user growth , then you have to think carefully about why users will take the initiative to help you spread the word?

Looking at the more well-known APPs on the market, they all need to go through seed-stage user operations and invite users to try out the app in order to continuously polish the product; then, through operational means, the APP will enter a period of explosive user growth. At the beginning of product design, it is necessary to give the product the ability to speak, so that the product has its own communication attributes.

1. Find out the real needs of users

Any well-known product knows what users need and will not develop functions blindly. There is no need for many functions. It only needs to meet user needs and hit user pain points to be liked by users and have a self-propagating effect.

As mentioned in the book "Self-Communication", finding the real needs requires careful observation of users, in-depth understanding of users, and the ability to make intuitive judgments.

If you don’t understand your users and don’t know what they like, you’re just working in isolation. Many products are always thinking hard about what users’ needs/pain points are, instead of observing and understanding users through actual actions.

The final product can only be described with two words: "Haha"!

A good product's core functions are driven by user needs and are able to meet user needs, rather than trying to change user behavior habits and make users follow your thinking. Generally speaking, corresponding products will be created based on user needs.

Internet medical APP - improve the efficiency of medical registration

Before, when people went to the hospital for medical treatment, there would be traffic jams at the registration desk, which was a waste of time. People will wait in the hospital to get an appointment as soon as possible. Sometimes I would wait in line for an appointment so long that I would feel like shitting. At that moment, I would think how great it would be if I could make an appointment directly on my mobile phone.

Since users have this pain point, there will definitely be some products to meet their needs. Therefore, many Internet medical apps have launched the function of online appointment registration. The apps with the largest download volumes include Appointment Registration Network, WeDoctor, and Yichengtong; these apps cooperate with major hospitals to provide APP appointment registration and payment services.

This type of APP helps people save time wasted in queuing for registration, meets user needs, and is therefore popular with users, which will naturally have a self-propagation effect. Including Box Jun, if friends around him want to go to the hospital for treatment, he will recommend them to use a certain APP. This is how the self-propagation effect comes about!

Changba APP - Seize the users' demand for karaoke and move the scene online

Changba is extremely popular and has spawned other businesses, including offline mobile KTV, Changba microphones, etc.; but do you know why Changba became popular so quickly at the beginning of its product development? The answer is simple. We understand user needs and grasp the user's karaoke needs:

• Karaoke is a cultural feature;
• Karaoke is a popular demand;

The popularity of the KTV market is enough to prove that the market demand is huge, but KTV also has relatively large limitations. It is impossible for everyone to go to KTV to sing karaoke every day.

Changba has seized on this user demand and turned the user's karaoke needs into an APP, through which users can sing anytime and anywhere.

After this kind of karaoke APP was launched, it was liked by users and many of them downloaded it to try it out. When a user records a song and uploads it to a social media platform, a self-propagation effect occurs!

WeChat and Momo—grasping users’ social needs

The book “User Power” mentions the cases of WeChat and Momo. WeChat is a platform product based on the circle of acquaintances and with mobile communications as the core, while Momo is a dating app based on strangers and with geographic location as the core. Both products can see the current users' social needs, and clearly define product positioning and main functions in order to meet user needs. Therefore, they are quickly spread after the APP is launched.

2. The product does not need to have many functions, but it must be usable

Good wine needs no bush; good products will definitely be found and widely disseminated. When the APP is first launched, it does not need many functions, it just needs to ensure that the main functions can be run smoothly. Use the most core functions to impress users, and other extended functions can be launched in a planned manner in subsequent APP product updates and iterations.

1. The main functions are prominent and the operation process is simple

If an APP product has the ability to spread itself, new users will know what the product is for as soon as they open it, and it will be easy for them to get started. If the function design of the product is too complicated and the column classification is not clear when it is first launched, new users will need to spend time thinking about how to use your product, or they will not know what is fun about your product and will just take a look and quit.

In this case, the user experience is very poor, and users will only find it boring and uninstall it too late. Do you still want users to spread the word?

Pinduoduo was launched at the end of September 2015, and reached 80 million users within one year. Pinduoduo is positioned as an e-commerce social APP . By inviting friends to group buy on social platforms and offering shockingly low prices, it quickly spread the word. Pinduoduo became popular, but its operation process is very simple:

For those who initiate group buying:

For group buying participants:

The main function of Pinduoduo is to invite friends to join in group shopping and buy your favorite products at low prices. The whole process is simple (if the purchase process is too complicated, I believe many people will choose to give up).

Pinduoduo's initial functional business model achieved the effect of user self-propagation and achieved viral user growth.

2. Ensure that the main functions are smooth

When the APP is first launched, the product function positioning is accurate, which can achieve the self-propagation effect of initial users and quickly attract a large wave of downloads; if the main functions are not running smoothly, some bugs will appear. Even if self-propagation is achieved and a large number of users are attracted, it will be a waste of time and effort. Instead, it will have a counterproductive effect and cause negative effects.

Therefore, it is necessary to conduct usage process testing at the beginning of the APP launch, or invite acquaintances to experience it, to ensure that there are no bugs in the main functions after the launch, and to reduce the loss of new users during the growth period.

3. Give the APP a name with propagation attributes

A reliable APP product also needs a reliable name. A clever name can play a role in communication and help the product carve out a niche. When people first get to know each other, they identify each other by their faces. The name of an APP is like people's "face". When users see the name of the APP, they will remember what the APP does, so it is particularly important to choose a good name.

1. Let users know what you do at first glance

As mentioned above, the APP name is as important as people’s “face”. The name is the first step for users to understand and recognize the APP. When users see the APP name, they know what it is used for. If users don’t know what the APP is used for after seeing the name, they need to find out through other means, and operators also need to promote the APP’s use through various channels , and both parties need to incur costs.

Everyone knows Kugou Music, Lizhi FM, and Didi Taxi . But if they were called Kugou, Lizhi, and Didi , users would have no idea what these apps are for. The word after the three tells users what the app is used for;

2. Pursue minimalism and make it easy to remember

The name doesn't need to be complicated or hard to remember, just simple and catchy will do. There is no need to use overly fancy words. Users won’t be able to remember them, and no matter how fancy the name is, it will be useless. It is not difficult to find that no matter what the product is, the names of the more well-known brands are often relatively simple. For example, Toutiao , Zhihu, Taobao , Pinduoduo, Ele.me , Nike , Mercedes-Benz, Jianshu , Apple, Activity Box , etc.

3. When users see the name for the first time, they will react with “wow” or “what the hell”

An interesting APP name can play a role in self-propagation; when users see the name for the first time, they will have reactions such as "what the hell" and "what the hell". I believe everyone has experienced this kind of reaction. Once something can make you exclaim like this, it means you are interested in learning about it and will share it with your friends.

For example, there are several APPs that I have complained about, such as Didi Shit, Friction APP, Didi Beat People, Didi Calling Chickens, Didi Singles , etc. When I see the names of these APPs, I really think: Wow, there are such APPs? Then I would search on Baidu and download the experience from the App Store .

Final Thoughts

User self-propagation is not a panacea, but without self-propagation it is absolutely impossible. For an APP product to become popular quickly, its initial user growth burst needs to rely on the self-propagation effect. Find out user needs, design a product that meets user needs, and give it a name that has self-propagating properties. Perfect! !